


Desserts And Lullabies

by Anica



Series: Hanni-verse [28]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: BabyHanni, EVERYTHING IS SHINY AND NOTHING HURTS, Established Relationship, Fluffly Fluff Fluff, Implied Cannibalism, M/M, Post Mpreg, Then They Kiss, Will Knows, Will is grumpy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-24 01:02:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1585934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anica/pseuds/Anica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from NS100: I would love to read about his first attempt at throwing a dinner party a few months after Hanni is born. Of course, things do not go as smoothly as planned. And when baby Hanni makes an appearance, no one pays attention to the food.</p>
<p>Tweaked just a bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Desserts And Lullabies

**Author's Note:**

> Give love to TayoAnn for this. She made it readable and less lame.

Will Graham bounced his ten month old son around the kitchen, singing softly, as he watched Hannibal pour dark chocolate shavings, ones that had been embedded with 24k edible gold, over the dessert.

“I think it is time to put him down and get ready for the evening,” Dr. Lecter said as he glanced at his watch. “I would prefer it if you shaved.”

“We don’t want to go to sleep,” Will told him with a cartoonish voice and a scrunched up his face, and tapped his nose against the boy’s, making his son giggle loudly. “Say, no bed time.”

“Na baba,” the little boy in his arms mumbled around the fist that was in his mouth and giggled again when his very excited daddy blew a raspberry against his neck.

“Is that really what you want to be teaching our son?” Hannibal asked, this time pausing to give his younger lover a disappointed look.

Will blew him a raspberry and the disappointed look turned stern.

“Please, Will, not around the food.”

“Papa, cares only about his fancy food and his fancy guests and not about his messy boys,” Will stage whispered to the child in his arms.

“Papa!” Was the only word the little boy picked up on and reached for the older man.

“Oh, sure side with him,” Will said in a mock bitter tone as he handed the boy over. “You’re not special, Dr. Lecter. He only wants the chocolate.”

“Than chocolate he shall have,” Hannibal said, slipping a small sliver of chocolate into the boy’s mouth, and smiled at the blissful look he received. “Good, isn’t it? Can you say Delafee? No? Can you say chocolate?”

“Chock,” the boy told him and both fathers smiled with pride. No small act went unnoticed by the two.

“We’ll have you talking in no time, my clever boy.” Hannibal kissed the curls and passed him over to Will. “Half an hour, love and then I will be forced to dress you myself.”

“Think you’ll manage? You have more practice getting me undressed than the other way around,” Will told him, his nose wrinkled. “And does that mean I’ll be allowed to sit next to you instead of the children’s table?”

“If you didn’t want to have this dinner, you should have said so, instead waiting until we were within the hour to become passive aggressive about the whole thing.” Hannibal did not spare him a look as he went to check on a dish in the oven. He wasn’t the kind to reward brattish behavior with attention.

“Sorry,” Will mumbled, and forced himself to take a deep breath. “You know I get bit anxious around large groups of people.”

“Yes, I know, but it will only be a dozen and you will sit at my side with Alana next to you, so your social interaction will be limited to greeting them at the door alongside myself,” Hannibal reminded him as he came closer to put one hand on Will’s shoulder and cupped his face with the other. “If it gets too much, I will not be offended if you feign a headache and escape to our bedroom.”

“What if I feign a stomach ache?” Will asked with a cocky smirk as he failed to make the jest sound light.

“You’ll be sleeping in the guest bedroom for the foreseeable future,” Hannibal replied, his eyes narrowed and dared Will to test him.

“Using sex as a tool,” Will shook his head. “And we aren’t even married.”

“Ex,” Hanni happily clapped his hands and smiled at his daddy.

“You’re getting much too good at this,” Will gave the boy a playful growl and tickled his chin.

“Daddy!” Hanni squealed with joy as he squirmed.

“Yes, Daddy!” Will kissed the boy and threw him in the air.

“Not in the kitchen!” Hannibal reminded him, all playfulness gone from his tone.

“Give Papa a kiss,” Will said holding the boy up to his lover. “He doesn’t want to play with us anymore. Nope, not 'til all the important people are gone.”

“William,” Hannibal sighed, and gave the younger man an exasperated look.

“Just kidding,” Will told him with a smile that was too wide to be real. Before he could go, his collar was grabbed and he was turned around. He was ready to be told off but instead found the other man smiling.

“You don’t deserve this,” Hannibal said, still managing to look annoyed even while the corners of his mouth were raised. He grabbed a piece of chocolate and held it up to Will, who obediently opened his mouth and let it be placed on his tongue, closing his mouth around the digits.

Will smiled and pulled away, licking his lips.

“Go on,” Hannibal told him, with a dismissive nod, but couldn’t hide that mixture of annoyance and affection in his eyes. “Before I give you something you do deserve.”

***

Upstairs Will changed their son and put him in a dark red and gray onesie. He tickled the covered foot and made silly faces at the boy as he sat down in the rocking chair. He held a story book but didn’t read from it. Instead he spoke softly to the boy, telling him about how much he didn’t want to have strangers in their house, judging him and their family.

He was a bit upset with Hannibal, though he would never admit that part out loud. He knew the other man loved to put on a show but they had a child now. How could their priorities not be different? How could he still want the same things he did a year ago? Will would have been perfectly happy just to watch his son sleep night after night, and would never have asked for anything else.

In the past few months they had slowly gotten back to the lives they had before Hanni was born. Hannibal returned to his practice full time and Will gave a few lectures twice a week. The only thing that had changed was the younger man’s field status. He had no intention of returning to it at this time.

Even though Will missed his son like crazy when they were apart, he knew it wasn’t healthy for either of them to always be at the boy’s side. A few days at work and a date night so they could enjoy each other’s company didn’t make them bad parents. Those things he could understand.

But a party? That was all on Hannibal and his need to be seen without being seen. It felt somehow like a betrayal when Hannibal allowed these people into their private sanctuary and played games with them. Will had started to feel that the older man’s priorities might still be on his nightly activities instead of their family. He was not sure if he was more upset with that or that he had fooled himself into thinking it could ever be any different. 

The boy in his lap whined and Will rubbed his back, a smile spread on his face without his consent or awareness. He got up, turned off the lights, and turned on the small projector that filled the room with soft light and the appearance of stars on the ceiling.

“When you’re older,” Will told his son softly as they sat back down in the rocking chair and gazed up at the lights. “We’ll go camping and we’ll spend the whole night watching the stars, and eating toasted marshmallows. Think papa will like that?”

“Papa?” Hanni asked, as he tilted his head back to look up at the older man.

“Yeah,” Will sighed. “Perhaps not.”

***

“You’re hiding,” Alana said, covering her smile with her champagne flute.

“Am not,” Will muttered, eyes on the other corner of the room, where Hannibal was talking to an older couple.

He was sure he could remember their names if he gave it half a thought but preferred not to speak to them. This was not his thing. Just because he lived with Hannibal now, didn’t mean it would transform him into a social person; nor did it mean he got any sort of satisfaction from watching them eat the rude. He would be polite, smile, and play host to the best of his limited ability. 

“You picked the wrong man if you wanted quiet Saturday nights,” Alana said, as if reading his mind.

“I had been looking forward to those,” Will muttered into his drink.

“Aw,” Alana cooed, her hand closed over his wrist and squeezed it. “Is Hanni still having trouble sleeping through the night?”

“Not really,” Will admitted with a shrug. “But I swear I can hear him turn over in his bed.”

“I think that’s part of the mommy thing.” Her smile only widened when he sent her a mock glare. Giving birth did not make him a mother. He was still one hundred percent all man. He was tempted to tell her just that. “How about we go sneak a peek at the little prince?”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Will took a deep breath. A forced smile spread itself across his face. “Sorry, have to play host. Maybe after dinner.”

***

A soft cry over the baby monitor did nothing to dull the conversation in anyone but the hosts. Hannibal and Will shared a look but the younger man was out of his chair before anything was said.

He would have preferred it if Hannibal had followed, was annoyed that he didn’t all the while understanding that the older man would have thought it rude for both hosts to disappear upstairs. He understood it but didn’t like it.

Hanni was standing in his crib, hands stretched out for his daddy when Will came in.

“Dada,” Hanni called out, hands clenching at the air, as he stood on his toes.

“Hey, little man,” Will smiled as whatever irritation he felt during dinner melted away, for the moment at least. 

He picked up the boy and rocked him for a bit while humming, rubbing his back as he got everything he would need to change him. Being clean did nothing to change the child’s mood. He fussed, and whimpered and refused to be put back to bed. He would scream and kick out every time Will tried, and no amount of pleading settled the little one down.

“Bet you want your papa,” Will whispered and the boy seemed to agree though no such words were voiced.

He had no intention of using his son as a pawn. Some nights no one could sooth the boy except Hannibal and on others it was only Will’s touch he wanted. Tonight, it seemed the older man was up to bat, but in all honesty Will was slightly curious as to what his lover’s reaction would be. He wanted to know if Hannibal would be more concerned with playing host or being a father.

As he brought the boy downstairs, he felt absolutely horrible for ever doubting the older man. The smile Hannibal wore was not one that came from practice. It was a smile that matched Will's own when he had entered the boy’s room just a few moments ago; one that the boy seemed to control, and bring out of his fathers with no effort on his part. Will was met halfway across the room. 

“He wanted you,” Will said weakly, while the boy pulled away, arms already outstretched and calling out to his father.

“Perhaps he was feeling left out,” Hannibal spoke softly, the same tone he always used around their son.

Hanni had quieted down in his papa’s arms, head against the velvet jacket, thumb in his mouth. He shuddered slightly as he started to calm.

“Well, don’t tease us Hannibal,” Mrs. Komeda rose from her chair and came to stand by the pair. “I think its past due time we met your namesake.”

Hanni turned his big watery eyes on her only to hide his face back in his father’s jacket a moment later, still sniffling softly, face drying against the fabric.

“He appears to be a bit shy at the moment,” Hannibal told her with a smile, his free hand around Hanni, in a protective gesture that did not consciously register with him. She raised a thin hand and worked it through the boy’s curls. Hanni gave an unhappy whimper but stayed still.

“My, he is a pretty little one,” She smiled at Will as she let her hand drop. “I never really wanted children but every once in a while I’ll run across a child that makes me question it.”

“Sometimes the question is taken out our hands and we are left with only a truly remarkable answer,” Hannibal told her, as he lifted Hanni just a bit to tuck his head under his chin.

“We’ll see if you feel the same way once he’s a cranky teenager instead a sweet, little baby,” Alana said with a chuckle as she rose to come stand by them, arms stretched out to take the boy. “Can Auntie Alana hold you?”

Hannibal frowned at the high tone and the name she used. He had no intention of letting his son call adults by their first name. Hanni had no intention of letting anyone else hold him at that moment. Having already mastered the art of crankiness, he whimpered loudly as he moved away from her outstretched arms and clung tighter to his papa. 

“I think maybe I should put him back to bed,” Will said, as he reached for the boy, only to have Hannibal take a step back.

“No, please, you’ve barely eaten.” He smiled at Will and bounced the fussy baby.

“Yeah, but you’re busy,” Will said softly with a head nod towards the table.

“Not for this. Never for this,” Hannibal told him, with a soft smile. He turned towards his guest, and tapped the little boy on the cheek, causing him to look up. “Say goodnight, sweet boy.”

“Nigh,” was a small little mumble from their son as he continued to fuss. He looked a bit displeased at all the attention he was receiving and tried to hide his face in the fabric of his papa’s smoking jacket again.

There was an air of disappointment as Hanni was removed from the room and Will took his seat.

“I must admit I was a bit surprised when I heard Hannibal was to be a father,” Mrs. Komeda said, leaning towards him from her place across the table. “I have known Hannibal for many years and it was as if a different person stood there with that boy just now.”

Will paused, hand stilled on his fork and wondered if Hannibal really was a different person now that Hanni had been born, or was that another trick the doctor played on the guests. He had started the evening feeling resentful, later hoping the man’s priorities had changed, and now he questioned the authenticity of Hannibal's feelings moments after he was given hope that his worries were unfounded.

Conversation resumed, and somewhere between it and his thoughts, the baby monitor got his attention for the second time that night. Though very low, it came through clear, and if he just closed his eyes he would be in the room with them as Hannibal sang to their son. 

It wasn’t loud enough for anyone at the table to pick up on, and if Will hadn't turned his head and leaned closer, Alana wouldn’t have noticed.

“What’s he singing?” Alana asked, as she leaned against him, in an attempt to hear better.

“That would be our boy’s song,” Will whispered, voice low so as not to draw the others’ attention. He could have said ‘Das Männlein im Walde’ but that just would not have sounded right. It had been his son’s song since the first sleepless night. Will liked to imagine that one day the boy would sing it to his own children. It was Hanni's song, one he shared with his papa and Will couldn’t bring himself to be jealous.

Hannibal’s voice remained low, just for him and their son to hear. Alana asked something else, but her words got lost in the buzz with the other voices. He relaxed in his chair, feeling the room slip away.

For a man who could see when no one else could, Will felt he had been blind. Hannibal’s change was in the way his face lit up when he heard his son call for him; in the way he would hold on tighter to Will after a long day or an even longer night; and it was there, in the way that he killed.

Social events would never be an ideal way to spend an evening for Will, but maybe he could do it for the older man and his enigmatic desires. After all, there was nothing Hannibal wouldn’t do for him and their son. Sleepless nights full of lullabies and making the world a nicer a place, one meal at a time.

***

“Will, we can’t,” Hannibal whispered, but didn’t push the younger man back. If anything, he seemed to melt against the hold Will had on him. His head went back and he offered up his neck. Will let his teeth graze the skin and smiled at soft moan he received.

“There was a time when touch was not ideal for you,” Hannibal reminded him, breathless and beautiful. “Much less a touch so close to an audience.”

“Maybe we've both changed,” Will whispered, laying a small kiss over the area his teeth had touched before pulling away and adjusting his lover’s jacket to cover the red mark, even if a part of him would have preferred it if the others saw. “Maybe we’re both still changing.”

“We are. One must, to survive. Some things though, my sweet Will, will never change.”

“Oh?” Will smiled, and raised a brow as he leaned in close again. “Tell me something that isn’t going to change."

“The depth of my feelings for you,” Hannibal said as his hand went out to fix Will’s curls, brushing them into place with long fingers, and smiling when they wouldn’t stay where he wanted them to. “How I’m going to have you against the door as soon as the last guest leaves. I want them to hear you scream my name.”

Will flushed as Hannibal moved away, and turned to watch him work while he took up the vacated spot against the door. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Will closed his eyes and tilted his head back, as he tried to regain control. 

“If you weren’t so rude before, I might have had you against this door.”

Will glared at him, and gave a frustrated growl through gritted teeth. Hannibal didn’t glance up from his dessert but the existence of the small, coy smile could not be denied. Between the touch, the promise and that smile, control was a lost cause.

***

Alana was the last to leave and the door closed behind her with just a bit too much force. Almost rude, but it must have been the wind. Still, Will imagined her pausing on the front step, and glancing back at the door. And god she’d hear it then. The sound of Will being shoved against the door and maybe even the groan that escapes him.

But then all Will could taste was dark chocolate and raspberries. All he could feel was the solid weight keeping him in place and the sound of clothes being shuffled. And that voice, those words that made him instantly hard.

“Say it.”

He couldn’t think after that. Not when he was spun around and his hands were held together over his head. A hand undid his belt with a harsh tug and let his pants fall where he stood but the touch on his boxers was teasing. He squirmed in an attempt to lose them, because they were the only thing that remained between him and the taller man.

“Say it.” It was whispered into his ear again, as the hard body covered him, biting softly against the base of his neck.

“Hannibal!” He almost screamed. Or did scream. He wasn't sure. And if he heard the sound of high heels retreating, he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

***

Will woke up in a dark bedroom and with an empty bed. At first he just closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but after a few moments he opened them and found that room was still empty. He got up, a hand rubbing away the sleep that threatened to drag him back into the warm bed, and made his way into the hallway.

He wasn’t surprised when he found the older man standing over their son’s crib, hands on the railing as he silently watched the little boy sleep. He came up behind Hannibal and wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, tucking his chin over the shoulder and glancing down at their boy. Hanni lay on his back, sucking on his thumb, as the discarded pacifier lay a few inches away. The artificial stars bathed the boy in a gentle light, accentuating the soft features that one day would become hard lines and sharp cheekbones.

“Did he wake up?” Will whispered into the other’s ear.

Hannibal shook his head and relaxed into Will’s arms. His head rolled back and he turned his face to nuzzle it against the soft curls. Silence only lasted a moment or two, but it was dreamy and comfortable.

“You mentioned earlier,” Hannibal said, his voice soft but his accent thick, “that we have changed. Is that something you really believe? That I have changed?”

“You’re more careful,” Will whispered after a moment of silence. He turned his face down into the crook of the neck and laid a kiss on the skin there. When he spoke, it was against the flesh, letting the other feel his lips move. “You’re still too curious when it comes to people, and their emotion and their reactions but other things... they’re different. I see it now. You smile more. I like it.”

“Did you not like who I was?” His words were still soft, but Will felt something beneath them as they vibrate out of the man’s chest and Will's arms tightened in response.

“I fell in love with your perseverance, your calm, your brilliance. The only change there is the list has grown. I love hearing you sing to our son, I love the way you tolerate Winston for my sake, ohh, but I might love your hands most of all,” Will said, giving a small moan to show the depth of his words. “I loved who you were and I love who you are. I love your smile and must admit there is a bit of pride I feel when I caused it instead of just your own puns now.”

“You complain about them,” Hannibal chuckled softly, “but you would miss them if they were gone.”

“Like the smell of a lake and the feel of grease on my hands,” Will told him, eye’s traveling back up to their boy. “Like Hanni’s laugh. I could only go without it for so long before I questioned the meaning of life.”

“Thank you for today,” Hannibal said after his soft chuckle filled the room. Will could still hear a smile in his voice when he spoke.

Will wanted to say that he was the one who should be thanking him. He got to see what was important to the older man, a peek behind the curtain, and that was priceless. He remained silent though. He didn't want Hannibal just giving those parts away. They were rare and precious and Will was afraid he’d start taking them for granted. He wanted to earn them and not have them given to him.

“Shall we retire?” Hannibal asked.

“Just one more minute,” Will begged, unwilling to let the moment be broken.

Hannibal only hummed in reply.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry that I'm not answering prompts in order. I am so not in charge of it. More prompts are always welcome.


End file.
